Citibank Falls Victim to Hackers

During a regular monitoring, U.S. banking giant Citibank discovered unauthorized access to its online banking service, Citi Account Online.

Hackers reportedly stole names, credit card numbers and email addresses of approximately 3,400 of its customers, resulting in a loss of $2.7 million.

The incident was first reported by The Financial Times. Citibank  account holders are furious because Citi failed to notify them immediately. 

Although sensitive information has been stolen, Citi says data to commit fraud - social security numbers, birthdates and credit card expiration dates were not breached. They also reported that account holders will not be reimbursed for fraudulent charges that appear on their accounts.

Citibank is the latest of many big companies to fall victim to hackers this year.  Google’s 'Gmail' was hacked from China this past month. Sony has had its servers hacked on numerous occasions and PBS’s website was hacked last month.

Senator Patrick Leahy pushed for the passing of The Personal Data Privacy and Security act. "The many recent and troubling data breaches in the private sector and in our government are clear evidence that developing a comprehensive national strategy to protect data privacy and security is one of the most challenging and important issues facing our country," Leahy stated.  He also went on to say, "The Personal Data Privacy and Security Act will help meet that challenge, by better protecting Americans from the growing threats of data breaches and identity theft."